Five Bulgarians received monthly salaries in the millions last year, and in 2022, the record amount of monthly remuneration of one of them was reported – 3.2 million. This is shown by NRA data obtained by “Mediapool” under the Law on Access to Public Information.
However, the majority of Bulgarians remain far from such sums. According to the NRA data, 88% of workers last year received a salary of up to BGN 3,000 per month. At the same time, the hunger for personnel in low-skilled labor is growing.
Although for most people a monthly salary of 3.2 million BGN sounds shocking, for Nikolay Nikolov, who is the owner of a recruitment company, there is an explanation. “These are rather medium-sized to large companies. Bulgarian companies or those with Bulgarian participation. They can be in the field of mining, energy,” he tells BNT.
According to the expert, a company with an income of no less than BGN 80-100 million can afford such a salary. “In a company, no more than one or two people could receive such remuneration. It is either the manager of the company or a co-owner who can also work as a manager at a high level,” adds Nikolov.
The data of the National Revenue Agency show that last year the top five employees in our country received salaries between 17 and 27 million BGN per year. According to experts, part of the amount is formed on the basis of at least one large financial bonus. Also, theoretically, dividend tax can be saved this way.
“The company pays 10% profit tax and accordingly, if the amount is taken from the manager and the owner of the company as a dividend, another 5% dividend tax is due. This makes a total of 15 percent, compared to 10% tax on total employment income. Biha they could save an amount of 5%, which is a very serious number on 20-30 million,” explained Nikolay Nikolov.
The highly paid Bulgarians, who received between BGN 50,000 and BGN 100,000 per month, are on average 1,600 people, and people with salaries over BGN 20,000 are less than 1% of the population.
However, the majority of salaries in the country are up to BGN 2,000, and a little over one million workers received close to the minimum wage. Those who want to work melt for these wages. Over the past six months, the most serious shortage of personnel has been in low-skilled employment, such as warehousing, logistics and construction.
“In recent weeks, we have witnessed zero candidates for a job advertisement with good salaries of around BGN 2,000 net,” Nikolay Nikolov pointed out.
The tourist industry also feels a serious crisis. “The deficit is huge and it will get bigger and bigger. There are no longer even people who want to become hotel owners,” said hotelier Georgi Tsvetkov.
This season, salaries are up by about 25-30 percent, and the lowest-paid positions start at BGN 1,500. “There is literally no upper limit. It can reach 10,000 for a senior manager or a very talented chef,” added Tsvetkov.
Despite the crisis for personnel from the industry, they are still optimistic about the 2025 season, as there are already reservations made.
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